Self-taught is Best Taught

Points: ‘Education’ is not ‘literacy’ — We are taught at school hut we learn at home — Character is formed at home 

             By ‘education’ people usually mean the lessons caught in schools or colleges. Now-a-days school-going is almost compulsory for every child. But ‘education’ and ‘literacy’ arc not the same thing. Emperor Akhar was illiterate, he did not know how to read or write. But he was not uneducated. Take the example of Rabindranath Tagore. He did not have much of formal training in schools or colleges. But was he not one of the wisest and most educated among the Indians? He was not taught but self-taught.
             In fact, education is self-development. We become educated by what we learn and not by what we are taught. We are taught at school, but we learn a lot elsewhere. We learn most at home and best by ourselves. We learn to love and respect a home where our character is formed. Education at home is, therefore, as valuable as education in school.
             We can say that we have more of ‘learning’ in school, But we have more of ‘education’ at home. Learning refers to knowledge and skill. ‘Education’ refers to character and outlook. There is, of course, no opposition between the best result is obtained when we can combine both learning and education, school and home, knowledge and character. But even after all education in school, college or university, our whole life remains to be self-taught.